No. 3 Panthers to Resume Road Trip at Syracuse

Friday, October 11

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 PM ET

Pitt

Syracuse

No. 3 Panthers to Resume Road Trip at Syracuse

10/10/2019 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes Watch Live Stats

Pitt to Take on Orange Friday on ACC Network Extra

PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team (15-1, 4-0) will stay on the road to visit Syracuse (4-7, 1-3) Friday at 7 p.m. ET at the Women's Building in Syracuse, N.Y.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Live stats will be available at Cuse.com.
Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter and Instagram, both @Pitt_VB.

A WIN WOULD…

Give the Panthers a 5-0 record in ACC play for the third consecutive season.
Improve Pitt's record to 40-11 all-time against the Orange and 13-5 when playing in Syracuse.
Extend the Panthers' winning streak against Syracuse to five matches. Pitt's last loss against the Orange Nov. 22, 2015, at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh (3-1).
Extend the Panthers' winning streak when playing at Syracuse to eight matches. Pitt's last loss when playing on the road against the Orange was Nov. 14, 2008 (3-1).
Improve the Panthers' record to 33-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 6-1 when ranked inside the top five.

RANKING THE PANTHERS

The Panthers rose to No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, as announced Monday afternoon. The ranking is Pitt's highest in program history.
Pitt's No. 3 AVCA ranking ties the highest for an ACC team in conference history. Florida State earned a No. 3 ranking in 2014.
The ranking marks the 17th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the fourth week ever in the top five.
The Panthers are 32-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 5-1 when ranked in the top five.
Pitt debuted at No. 5 in the NCAA Volleyball RPI, as released Monday afternoon.

STIFF COMPETITION

Pitt's two wins against top 10 teams and four wins against top 25 teams this year are the most in a single season in program history.
The Panthers are 4-1 against teams ranked in the top 25, with wins over No. 10 Oregon (Sept. 11), No. 16 Utah (Sept. 14), No. 4 Penn State (Sept. 20) and No. 23 Florida State (Oct. 6).
Pitt's lone loss to a ranked opponent this year came against No. 4 Penn State, 3-2 (Sept. 22).

NDEE EARNS SECOND ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR

Junior right side Chinaza Ndee was named ACC Player of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon. The honor is the second of her career, and her second of the season after earning the accolades for the week of Sept. 23.
The Houston, Texas, native led Pitt with 3.86 kills per set while blocking a team-best 1.14 balls per frame over the weekend. She hit a combined .356 while leading the Panthers in kills at both matches, with 12 at Miami (Oct. 4) and 15 at No. 23 Florida State (Oct. 6).
Her performances helped Pitt reach a 4-0 start to ACC play for the fourth consecutive season, winning 12 of the first 13 sets of league competition. Pitt's 3-1 win over No. 23 Florida State was its fourth against a ranked opponent this year, marking the most in a single season in school history.

GETTING CLOSER

Two Panthers are nearing career milestones as Pitt enters the second half of the regular season.
Redshirt senior Stephanie Williams is 30 digs away from 1,000 with 970. She earned her 1,000th kill in 2018 and currently boasts 1,317 for her career, ranking sixth in program history.
Williams is set to join elite company as one of just three Panthers ever to record 1,300+ kills and 1,000+ digs, including Ann Marie Lucanie (1990-93) and Diana Andreyko (2004-07). Lucanie had 1,815 kills and 1,480 digs, while Andreyko had a program-record 1,852 kills and 1,089 digs.
Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk is 19 kills away from 1,000 with 981. She is set to become the third active Panther with 1,000 kills, including senior right side Nika Markovic (1,102) and Williams (1,317).

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt took down its fourth top 25 opponent of the season with a 3-1 win (25-15, 26-24, 14-25, 25-19) at No. 23 Florida State Sunday afternoon at Tully Gym.
Three Panthers posted double figures in the kill column, led by junior right side Chinaza Ndee with 15. Classmate Kayla Lund had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, and redshirt senior outside hitter Stephanie Williams had 13 kills to round out the trio.
Sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Starks paced Pitt with five blocks. Redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas had a match-high 21 digs, while freshman setter Lexis Akeo led the Panthers with 46 assists.
Pitt had the upper hand in kills (58-33), assists (54-30), service aces (8-3) and digs (56-53), but the Seminoles had the advantage in blocks (18.0-9.0). The Panthers hit .158 for the match while holding Florida State to .134.

SCOUTING SYRACUSE

Syracuse (4-7, 1-3) comes into the match looking to bounce back after dropping two in a row at home against Wake Forest and Duke.
Syracuse's last win came against Clemson on Sept. 29, coming back to win in five sets after being down 2-1.
The Orange are 0-2 against ranked opponents this season, losing in straight sets to then-ranked No. 17 Baylor (Sept. 5) and then-ranked No. 11 Marquette (Sept. 7).
Sophomore outside hitter Polina Shemanova leads the ACC in kills per set (4.36) and points per set (4.98).
Pitt holds a 39-11 all-time record against Syracuse, and is currently riding a four-match win streak against the Orange dating back to November 2016.

UP NEXT

No. 3 Pitt will visit Boston College (13-4, 4-0 ACC) for a televised match Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on RSN in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS

Flex season ticket packages as well as single-match and group tickets for the 2019 volleyball season are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or online at PittsburghPanthers.com.

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